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About Me

Stewart StevensonBanffshire, Scotland

Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and then studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.

Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.

I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.

26 January 2017

Banffshire & Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson has backed a call for the Tories to “stop stifling investment” in Carbon Capture Storage technology and put it “at the top of the agenda”.

The challenge to the UK Government came after SNP MP Phil Boswell, who was a member of the CCS Advisory Group that reported directly to the UK Government, led a debate on UK decarbonisation and carbon capture and storage technology in the House of Commons last week.

A recent report from the National Audit Office revealed the UK Government spent a staggering £100 million on a competition for developing ground-breaking carbon capture and storage technology before scrapping the plans - the scheme would have led to emissions from heavy industry stored permanently underground.

The project - which would have brought hundreds of jobs to the area - was scrapped by the then Chancellor George Osborne at the eleventh hour, betraying Scotland’s energy sector and wasting taxpayer’s money to ultimately deliver nothing.

Commenting, Stewart Stevenson MSP said,

“Carbon Capture Storage technology has great potential to play a leading role in tackling climate change but instead of encouraging this sector the Tories are stifling investment - as well as showing a complete disregard for developing and protecting jobs in the north-east of Scotland.

“The National Audit Office report contained extraordinary revelations about the shambolic way the UK government handled this hugely important scheme and should have prompted the Tories into immediate action to get CCS back to the top of the agenda.

"The long term prospects for green investment in the UK remain worryingly uncertain, with investment in renewable energy set to drop by 95% between 2017 and 2020. The SNP fervently believe that it is the responsibility of every government to support the transition to a low carbon economy for future generations to come.

"Scotland is a world leader in tackling climate change and I’m proud the SNP Scottish Government has launched a new climate change action plan which sets ambitious targets to further reduce our carbon emissions.

“We call on the UK Government to turn around their otherwise toxic legacy, and support decarbonisation, and the skills and jobs, as well as energy and environmental security that come with it.”